A/N: Sup guys?! So I'm obsessed with Dragon Age and have been for a while. Soooo, I'm trying my hand at writing it! God I hopw it goes well... HERE WE GO!

Disclaimer: BioWare owns all of these characters (except my OC). Please support the offical Dragon Age releases.

It was a cold night in the middle of winter. Mina had stopped shivering hours ago. Now she was just shaking; convulsing. She'd lived on the streets of Dallas for years, and usually could find a place to keep warm durring the winter. This was the first time she didn't have anywhere in the world to take refuge. She slowly closed her red-brown eyes. This was it. She knew as soon as she fell asleep she wouldn't wake up. She wrapped her arms around her torso as her platinum blonde hair fell in front of her face. 'At least I tried. I helped others who had less than I did...' She smiled at the thought. She had an extra set of clothing, a coat, and even shoes. The kids that she'd helped earlier that fall were practically naked. Poor things.

Her last thoughts were of a little girl with short brown hair and big green eyes. So thankful and yet still sad. The black took over.

A gruff male voice reached her ears, "She's just a kid, Broody. We can't just leave her here. Especially with the Qunari tearing Kirkwall to shit."

She lay still , aching all over.

"We can't take her with us. There's no way we could take in another lost soul... Even if she's an Elf," argued a grouchy sounding male voice.

A woman argued with the grouchy male, "Well, if you, won't I will. It's my duty to protect all of those in this city!"

Mina realized she was being held and whoever it was hadn't joined in the conversation yet. What befuddled her even more was that she wasn't dead. And it wasn't cold anymore. In fact, she felt intense heat as if a fire were burning close by.

She groaned and fluttered her eyes open to see peircing baby blue eyes looking at her, almost hidden by thick black hair.

"Well, hello there cutie. Are you okay?" he asked, voice soft and smooth like velvet. He smiled through thick facial hair that made her insides flutter.

Everyone stopped arguing about her and looked at the man who held her. She was naturally shy; painfully so. Without thinking, she hid her face in the man's chest. He was wearing armor, so it was hard to do.

'Wait... armor?! Why the hell is he wearing armor?! AND WHY IS HE HOLDING ME?!' she shouted in her head. She felt a rumble through his chest. He was laughing.

"Merril, it looks like you'll be her friend for now. Hey, cutie, I'm going to set you down ok?"

Still embarrassed, she nodded.

When she was on her own feet, she looked around. It was bizzare to say the least. Fires burned everywhere, rubble cluttered the ground and what stunned her the most were the people she saw before her. She'd seen them before... At one of the shelters she'd stayed at there was an xbox and some of the kids used to play a game called Dragon Age. She'd watched it and loved every second of it.

"I-I'm... I'm in Kirkwall," she stammered, "No. Fuckin' way." The companions before her stared curiously. Fortunately, the little elf, Merril stepped up. Mina remembered she was a mage who used blood magic, but was incredibly sweet, yet annoying at times.

"Yes, you are in Kirkwall. Um... I'm Merril and... er... We're in a bit of trouble right now, but Hawke and the others will keep you safe. Of course, I'll help to! Unless you'd prefer to run that is. I mean... Oh dear, I'm messing this up aren't I?"

Mina smiled and shook her head, "No, Merril. Thank you. I think ya'll are the safest bet right now." Her accent was thick as ever. The little elf smiled and nodded.

"We'll get to introductions later. For now, lets get those horned bastards out of our city." 'Varric!' Mina squealed in her head. He had been her favorite companion of all. But, in the current circumstance, she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal that she knew what was happening. Or what would happen later on for that matter. Even if it was a dream or she was just going completely insane, she wanted to enjoy it. With that in mind, she glanced around for Anders.

He was towards the back of the group. 'Of course he is. He's a mage and the healer. Better if he doesn't get too threatened or Justice might pop out to say howdy-do.' That made her wince. It had been an upsetting part of the game. She felt sorry for him, but a bit scared of him at the same time. But back then it had only been a game. This was... a dream maybe? Or maybe she was dead and this was her version of heaven? Not that she'd been good enough according to all that she'd heard.

A loud roar interrupted her from her thoughts. A group of Qunari were charging at them from the steps of what Mina thought must be the Viscount's Keep.

She'd never been that great at fighting, however she had had to defend herself a number of times. She dove under one of them and kicked the backs of his knees. Bigger people were easier for her to take down. She didn't need a weapon to do some damage. She;d learned just the right spots to imobilize someone.

Hoping it wasn't too much different for a Qunari, she stabbed her fingers into the side of his neck right before he fell to the ground. It wouldn't kill him, but Mina didn't really want to kill.

After a series of flips and dodges, the skirmish seemed at an end. Everyone was wiping blood from their faces and loosening their grip on their weapons.

"She certainly knows how to defend herself," Fenris remarked with a raised eyebrow.

Aveline nodded in agreement.

Mina simply looked down at the ground. It was always trouble to call attention to oneself. OR so she had been taught... harshly.

"Good! She'll be even better company," Hawke said excitedly. He sheathed his sword and re-adjusted his shield. Then, they were on their way up the stairs. Mina knew exactly what was to come. She only hoped that Isabela would show up. She wanted to meet the sassy woman and she'd liked the outcome better when Isabela came back.

Just then, a Qunari mage sent out a shockwave of magic that made everyone disoriented. Mina groaned and grabbed her head, desperate to strike at him before he could hurt anyone. Alas, he was casting an ice spell that was aimed right at Hawke.

It seemed impossible to her own eyes, but as fast as the spell seemed to grow, it vanished. An older woman with blonde hair dressed in full heavy armor pulled her sword out of his back and stared the group down.

"I am Knight Commander Meredith," she said with authority looking at Hawke, "And I know you. The name 'Hawke' has turned up in my reports many times. Too many."

Hawke opened his mouth to speak, but she turned away and kept talking, "But that doesn't matter now. The Qunari are taking people to the Keep and may already be in control. We will need to deal with them..." She turned back and looked at all of us. We all knew too well what the Qunari would do with those who did not accept the Qun.

Hawke stepped forward and nodded, "I'll do whatever it takes to defend my home."

Meredith nodded and eyed Merril and Anders, "I'll overlook your current magical company for the moment... Head to the Keep. I will find more of my men. They will pay for this outrage!" She turned on her heel and walked away.

'Ugh. I don't see why she struts around like she owns Kirkwall.' Mina thought, curling her upper lip. She didn't mind mages at all. Sure, things got out of hand in Kirkwall, but most mages were people who just wanted to be left alone or to learn how to control their abilities safely.

It was too soon that they saw even more bodies littering the ground. From the looks of it, they were mages. Mina spotted a man looking around the distruction.

"Orsino!" called Hawke.

Orsino seemed to be in a daze. He crouched down next to an unmoving body and began to try and heal it.

"It's no use, Enchanter. Whoever it is... they're dead," Anders tried to persuade the elf man.

Orsino kept muttering to himself. Hawke bent down, conscerned. The horror on the Enchanter's face said that he hadn't even realized it. Hawke closed his eyes a moment and sat silent to honor the fallen.

It didn't last more than a moment, "Enchanter Orsino! I've found a few others... They're ok. A little shaken,but- Brother?!"

Mina recognized the voice. It was Hawke's sister, Bethany.

"Bethany! Thank the Maker you're alive!" he cried happily as he ran to her and hugged her tightly.

As Mina watched them curiously, the others seemed to be looking around for any more Qunari. As fate had it, they found some at the bottom of the steps leading to the Keep. Meredith marched a handful of her troops up as we finished them off. Of course.

And as per Mina remembered they argued about what would be done about the remaining horde of Qunari waiting at the doors to the Keep. Mina grew impatient with the bickering between them.

And, so once again, her tongue spoke before her brain could catch up, "OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!You know, the longer we wait the more people we lose. Why can't you two just work together for ONCE?! Mages attack from afar and Templars can charge them. No one will try to escape, so shut it and protect your city!"

The arguing trio, Meredith, Orsino, and Hawke all looked at the small woman. As did everyone else. Right when she thought the Knight Commander was going to hit her in the head with that giant templar shield, Varric spoke up.

"You know, she's got a point. You can hate each other later, right?"

Hawke chuckled and nodded, "You're right. Let's play nice for now, shall we? I'll go in and deal with the Arishok..." His eyes clouded in thought for a moment. Whether it was about just how he was going to deal with the Arishok or about Isabela.

And thus started one of the most memorable moments with Hawke Mina could remember. It was a bit of a blur since she was exhausted anyway, but the strangeness of being in Kirkwall blurred it even more.

Hawke tried to convince the Arishok to go home. Right as they were about to come to blows, no one other than Isabela showed up. Of course Hawke was raging pissed at her, but he set that aside for the people he was trying to protect. In his mind that was his friends and his family.

The Arishok demanded the pirate as a prisoner, and Hawke refused.

Hawke ended up worse for wear, but the horned giant lay dead at his feet. That in itself seemed pretty impossible. And yet Mina saw it with her own eyes.

All bloodied and battered they went back to Hawke's mansion. Every one of them including Bethany. Leandra fussed, Hawke's mabari whined, and everyone found a place to crash.

The morning brought another kind of headache. Mina woke up in the study, loud voices calling her out of a warm slumber by the fireplace. Varric was sleeping in an armchair to her left and Merril was on a cushioned bench towards the back of the room. Mina smiled at them, still asleep after the yelling.

It was one loud voice really. Hawke seemed to have recovered from the night and was laying into Isabela.

"I know it could have saved your life Isabela, but you honestly fucking think that I CAN'T HANDLE THE SON OF A BITCH HUNTING YOU?! AND IN THE END I SAVED YOUR LIFE ANYWAY! AND I'LL SURE AS SHIT DO IT AGAIN! THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO AND IF YOU EVER-EVER- DO A SELFISH STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN..." he sighed and lowered his voice, "I'll leave you to fall flat on your ass. There are more people to think about than yourself. Everyone in this shite group of lunatics cares for you at least a bit."

Isabela stood with her head held high and her hands on her hips, "It's good to be alive Hawke. Thanks for that. I deserve all that, but don't get sappy on me, sweetheart.."

Mina poked her head out of the doorway, rubbing her eyes. They both looked over to see who it was. Hawke smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Isabela sauntered over and looked Mina over a few times, "Who is this darling creature? I didn't know we had more than one elf! Fenris will be upset he's being replaced."

Mina blinked a few times and felt her ears. They were pointed after all. She'd heard them talking about it last night, but she'd thought it had been a mistake.

"She's my cutie," Hawke said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "We found her collapsed by the Alienege. It was really weird. No one had seen her before."

"Oooh~ Are you going to keep her? If you don't I will~" Isabela purred.

Mina's eyes went wide and she jumped out between them, "I'm not a pet! You can't just claim me!" Instead of a protest, it ended up being a scared squeak.

They both laughed. Varric walked out of the study, one eye open to the light in the main hall.

"Leave the kitten alone. You two are awful," He walked over to Mina and smiled charmingly, "If you are going to stick around, kitten, I wouldn't spend too much time alone with either of these two. Verric Tethras at your service."

Mina couldn't help but giggle at his introduction, "You always introduce yourself in some grand way don't you?"

"How ever did you know?" he said with a wink.

The day slipped by quickly. Mina spent the day with them at the Hanged Man, celebrating, and listening to Varric's stories. They were amazed about how little she knew about Thedas. So, she carefully explained that she was from somewhere very far away, and she didn't have a clue as to how she ended up in Kirkwall, much less the -newly named- Champion of Kirkwall's arms. Both of which Hawke was extremely proud of. Secretly she hoped he didn't make a habit of picking up random women on the street. Quite literally. They seemed to take her presence in stride. Even Fenris, who made it clear he was pleased she wasn't a mage, and that she was an Elf other than Merril.

Varric ended up offering her a room at the Hanged Man, which she gladly accepted. He was turning out more like an older brother to her as the days went by. He semi-taught her how to gather helpful info and arranged for her to hone her hand-to-hand combat with Aveline's supervision. And despite his and Fenris' protests, she felt herself being drawn towards Anders. He was the least vocal about her and it piqued her interest. He was more quiet than she thought he'd be. It was honestly a bit unnerving. He watched her more than the rest; helped her in card games more than the others; payed more attention to even the smallest of her wounds than he did the others'. She was determined to find out why.

A/N: Sorry I skimmed over the big Arishok scene. We've all played it before, so I didn't feel the need to repeat the whole conversation. Plus, I'm not rewriting the game. Forgive me if it seems rushed. I've got a lot more to go, so I promise it won't be short.